West Texas behind in efforts to add high school soccer

PHIL TERRIGNO

Friday

May 8, 2015 at 5:28 PM

Editor's note: This is the fourth article in a series examining participation levels of West Texas high school sports and how the region's athletics offerings, particularly for girls' sports, compare to the rest of the state. Parts I and II pertaining to soccer examined the state of soccer in West Texas with a focus on facilities, travel for club soccer and possible league and scheduling alternatives to the current system.

Writing on behalf of his sons, Joseph Partin asked then-Plainview superintendent Ron Miller about the lack of soccer as a sport offering at Plainview High School.

In the August 2012 e-mail, Partin wrote about his soccer-playing sons, Ethan (then 12) and Zac (then 15), and asked that Plainview consider adding soccer. He suggested using Wayland Baptist University's fields as a solution to any facility concerns.

"It is disheartening that Plainview ISD continues to lack a soccer program to which the kids can develop in and therefore our kids are forced to give up their dreams of one day playing in college," Partin wrote. "As you plan to develop the Plainview ISD Athletic program, please do not forget about those kids in Plainview that love soccer and would support any soccer program with just a little interest shown in their development."

Miller responded and said that because of funding, soccer and wrestling were discussed by the board at the time but were not pursued.

"Funding is even worse now, but I will let the board know of your thoughts and this desire," Miller wrote. "I am for it because these sports will reach those students who have had limited success in our other sports. Another way to help keep them interested in school. Right now funding is limiting us and we've had to reduce various positions within the district once again."

The email exchange, which was furnished to the Avalanche-Journal by Plainview ISD after an open records request, is the most recent tangible mention of adding soccer to Plainvew - one of two area 5A schools without soccer.

Cooper is the other area 5A school currently without soccer, but it has posted job positions for soccer coaches and plans to launch a program in two years.

West Texas by the numbers

There are 55 5A soccer teams in Region I, compared to 58 5A football teams.

But, Abilene Cooper, San Angelo Lake View and Lubbock High play in the only three-team district.

Why? Because Plainview, Cooper and Hereford are the only 5A schools that do not offer both sports.

Current Plainview athletic director Ryan Rhoades said that discussions to start soccer took place before he arrived at the school in 2013 and have not been brought up since.

In a Feb. 5, 2015 e-mail from Cooper athletic director John Windham to Cooper superintendent Keith Bryant, Windham offered "the numbers and grade levels of kids who said they would be interested in playing UIL soccer in High School if offered."

"Now this is very unscientific. These are just kids that came by the office in the (middle school) and signed the list. In the (high school) I made an announcement for any ninth and 10th grade students interested to come to the commons and meet with me. Here are the number of students for each grade level that signed."

"The whole reason we are beginning soccer is because of the move up in classification (to 5A)," Windham said in a phone interview. "The extended growth in our athletic participation numbers overall in the whole school allows us the opportunity to offer soccer."

But, there doesn't seem to be a groundswell across 4A Region I to start a soccer programs either - whether they expect to grow and move up a classification or not.

In 4A, which also has 3A soccer teams playing up - mostly from Central Texas - like Cameron Yoe and Florence, there are only 27 soccer teams in Region I and none from the Avalanche-Journal's coverage area.

No schools that offer 3A football play up in West Texas and eight of those 27 schools in Region I are charter schools.

The other three regions have 106 soccer teams (only two of which are charter schools), with a high of 40 in Region III.

And only three teams from what would be considered West Texas have soccer teams (Borger, Pampa and Abilene Wylie). By comparison 44 public schools offer football in 4A Region I.

That can lead to some tricky travel situations. Borger and Pampa both have San Elizario (508 miles away) in their three-team district.

No other team is within a three-hour drive.

Not enough money?

The cost of starting a high school soccer program can vary depending on the current facilities a school has and also the standards it sets: the coach of a strong Region I 5A boys soccer team estimated that equipment costs from $2,000 to $3,000 per year per team, a number that can easily balloon if schools insist their players have matching practice and warmup outfits.

Tournament costs range from $200 to $300 each and a school district might only pay for a certain number of tournaments per season, requiring booster clubs to try and raise the remaining funds.

Costs for game officials as well as the accommodation and travel costs to attend tournaments, which are particularly important for teams in small districts, also increase the costs of having a program.

A pair of goals for match use can cost $7,000 and practice goals far less.

When Cooper launches its program, it will become the fifth Lubbock area school with a soccer program, joining Monterey, Coronado, Lubbock High and Frenship.

"In West Texas, it's just now catching on big time and the youth soccer numbers are exploding," Windham said. "Of younger kids that are getting into little league soccer more so than it has been long ago. I don't know if that's a West Texas deal or a state of Texas thing."

Cooper will treat next year as a planning season - it will not compete and it will not have soccer workouts during its athletic period, but it will be permitted to have spring workouts.

The time, which will also be used to order equipment and plan schedules, will precede Cooper's placement into a district - presumably a variation of the current 4-5A, with Abilene Cooper, Lubbock High and San Angelo Lake View - during the next UIL realignment.

Windham said that Cooper does not currently plan to start middle school soccer and that "hopefully we'll have enough numbers to do a J.V. team in two years, also."

"There's always been inquiries a few years back," Windham said of inquiries about soccer since he became full-time athletic director in 2012 . "Probably in the past three or four years. Parents have inquired. 'When are we going to start soccer?' And the answer has always been 'When we get realigned into a district with other teams that have soccer, we'll look at it.' And that's what happened last year when we got pushed into 5A."

Current students in Plainview that play soccer are generally a part of clubs in Lubbock or Amarillo and also participate in informal men's leagues.

In a phone interview, Partin said: "Everything is there. We have all the ingredients. We just don't have anybody to make the mix."

philip.terrigno@lubbockonline.com

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